Having immersed myself in the world of paid surveys I wanted to write an article that dealt with the subject of paid surveys from the standpoint of the marketer.
Marketing has always been about finding a way to tie your product and or service to the needs of the public at large. In the case of these surveys that tie comes in the form of the perception of money for nothing.
There are very few truly legitimate paid surveys. What I mean by that is there are very few that will actually pay you a cash reward immediately upon completion of your survey.
The stories most people hear about paid surveys is that you complete a survey and a check arrives at your door in a few days. Most paid survey sites do not operate this way.
Marketing experts are working to retain survey takers for a longer period of time. They have done this in two primary ways. The first is to replace an actual payment with points. These points are used to either enter sweepstakes or exchange accumulated points for goods or services. The second way in which marketers keep people coming back for more is to provide cash, but they also place a minimum amount at which a member can request funds. These methods have proven useful in keeping survey members around for a longer period of time. Because most will want to collect the funds they will stay involved in filling out surveys until they have met the minimum.
Many paid survey sites make additional money available by allowing members to read emails for a small reimbursement. Often that reimbursement is as little as a penny per email, but in most cases the recipient will open the email and read the marketing message. The intent of this strategy isn't just to reward recipients for reading an email. It is a form of email marketing that provides a small incentive to actually open an advertisement that will hopefully encourage them to take the next step and make a purchase.
Many companies have seen positive conversion rates from this process. The businesses will contract with a paid email company in an effort to improve site traffic. Some paid email companies will also provide a greater payment to members if they either sign up for whatever is being pitched in the email or if they actually make a purchase.
One of the common themes in paid surveys is that the participant is rewarded only when they make a purchase or sign up for a tree trial. In most cases this transfer of information or assets offsets itself long term which is why so many companies continue to offer free products as part of the paid survey marketing strategy. The customer may actually pay for the product through accepting and paying for other required offers.
From a business standpoint the option of paid surveys can mean enhanced networking opportunities and, while this approach may not work for all who sign up, there will likely be enough interest to keep this marketing program working.
